Concepts of Cardiovascular and Respiratory Disorders

Scenario 4: 45-year-old woman presents with a chief complaint of the 3-day duration of shortness of breath, cough with thick green sputum production, and fevers. The patient has a history of COPD with a chronic cough but states the cough has gotten much worse and is interfering with her sleep. Sputum is thicker and harder for her to expectorate. CXR reveals a flattened diaphragm and increased AP diameter. Auscultation demonstrates hyper resonance and coarse rales and rhonchi throughout all lung fields.

Develop a 1- to 2-page case study analysis, examine the patient symptoms presented in the case study. Be sure to address the following:

Explain both the cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary pathophysiologic processes of why the patient presents these symptoms.

Explain how the cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary pathophysiologic processes interact to affect the patient.

Explain any racial/ethnic variables that may impact physiological functioning.